Machine for winding strand material



Feb. 28, 1961 w. L. BLACKBURN MACHINE FOR WINDING STRAND MATERIAL 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1957 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM L. BLACKBURN AGENT Feb. 28, 1961 w. L. BLACKBURN MACHINE FORWINDING STRAND MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26, 1957 F /'g. 720m INVENTOR.

WILLIAM L. BLACKBURN AGENT MACHINE FOR WINDING STRAND MATERIAL WilliamL. Blackburn, Laurel Springs, N.J., assignor to Burroughs Corporation,Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Mar. 26, 1957, Ser. No.648,682

9 Claims. (Cl. 242-4) This invention relates to apparatus for windingstrand material on an annular member and more particularly, although notnecessarily exclusively, to a device for winding relatively fine wire ona toroidal bobbin or core to produce an electric coil.

In machines of this type it has been found both necessary and practicalthat the strand material or wire to be wound on the core bobbin bestored in a device which is adapted to pass through the space enclosedby the bobbin hub, i.e. the bore of the bobbin, in order that the strandmay be properly wound. For bobbins of very small bore diameter which arefrequently used in large scale computers and like devices, the storagedevice must be relatively small and at the same time have a fairly largewire storage capacity. It is also necessary that some means be providedto maintain tension at all times between the strand applied to thebobbin and that being fed from the storage device. Heretofore, manymachines have been proposed for this purpose which have had varyingdegrees of success.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a windingmachine for annular rings, which is of simple construction andinexpensive to manufacture.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a windingmachine in which the strand material is maintained under substantiallyuniform tension during the Winding process.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a machine inwhich the strand storing device is sufliciently small to pass throughthe enclosed space of small annular rings and still have a reasonablylarge strand storage capacity.

A still further important object of this invention is to provide meansin a toroidal core winding machine apparatus which eliminates the needfor movable slides, and pulleys to maintain tension on the strandmaterial.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means forwinding strand material on a series of bobbins without the necessity ofloading the machine prior to each winding operation.

It is an object of the invention to provide automatic tensioning meansfor winding strand material.

One embodiment of a winding mechanism to accomplish these and otherobjects of this invention comprises a shuttle in the form of atransversely split, hollow ring or tube which is provided with a taperedanvil or mandrel at one end and an elongated slot or aperture in theopposite end. The strand material is wound up and stored in the hollowportion of the ring in the form of a helix and is fed out over thetapered mandrel and through the slot. A spring biased brush holderaffords proper positioning of the loop on the core bobbin as it is beingwound.

The invention with its objects and features will be understood from thefollowing detailed description and the attached drawing forming a partthereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the machine;

2,973,154 Patented Feb. 28, 1961 Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of thestep by step storage and winding loop of strand material;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view along the radial axis of aportion of the shuttle or ring showing the tensioning slot and themandrel, the View being taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view showing thestrand material being withdrawn from the Fig. 5 is a view of afragmentary portion of the ring shown in Fig. 3 but showing the strandmaterial being gripped between the mandrel and the lower radial portionof the slot;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar I to Fig. 4 butillustrating the strand material in locked condition as shown in thediagrammatic view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view along the line 8--8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is fragmentary view of a winding ring illustrating a modifiedtensioning aperture.

For the purposes of description and illustration a machine has beenchosen which is adapted for winding wire about a toroidal core which maybe of non-magnetic material to produce a toroidal magnetic core.

The strand winding machine is mounted on a rigid base 10 which may be ofmetal, wood or other suitable material. An electric motor (not shown)drives grooved pulley 12 through a series of idler pulleys or othermechanism (not shown) disposed on the opposite side of plate 14. Plate14 also supports two additional grooved idler pulleys 16 and 18 which,together with pulley 12, support a shuttle in the form of a hollow tubeor ring 20. Each of the pulleys 12, 14 and 16 is faced in its groovewith a friction material such as rubber or neoprene to aid it in drivingring 20. Also attached to plate 14 substantially centrally of ring 20 isa disk 22 of insulating material somewhat thicker and of smallerdiameter than ring 20.

Spring-pressed against disk 22 is an inverted T-shaped member 24 hingedat one end and having its depending end flared outwardly to receive abrush 26. Member 24 is adjustably biased or pressed against disk 22 bymeans of a tensioning structure (not shown). Enclosed in a hollow handleportion 28 attached to member 24 is a spring contact 30, the bentportion of which is pressed inwardly against the disk 22. A smoothbutton 32, of conductive material is disposed in the disk 22 with asurface exposed and engaging the contact 30 when the T-shaped plate isspring urged thereagainst. These two contacts together form a make andbreak circuit for a counter mechanism (not shown) which may be attachedthereto by means of wires extending therefrom.

The movable shuttle of the present invention comprises a hollow,elongated tube of suitable rigid material such as metal or plastic whichhas been bent or otherwise formed into an annulus or ring. The hollowring, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is split transversely as indicated at34 so as to be joinable around the object to be wound with strandmaterial, e.g. a core bobbin. One end 20a of the ring 20 is providedwith an elongated anvil or mandrel 36 having a cylindrical base portion38 fixed or press fitted into the bore of the end 200 of the ring, asshown.

The major portion of the anvil projects from end 20a of the ring intoend 20b of the opposite end of the ring. The anvil 36 comprises acylindrical mandrel portion 37, an enlarged cylindrical base portion 38and a flaring portion 3? joining the portions 37 and 38. If desired, andas shown, the outer extremity of the mandrel portion may beprogressively reduced in cross-section to provide a tapered end forfacilitating joining of the ends of the split ring. The cylindrical baseportion serves as a coupling between the ends of the ring and joins themin abutting alignment. The portion 37 of the anvil is of less diameterthan the bore of the tube thus to provide thenecessary clearance betweenthe anvil and the inner wall'of the tube so as to receive the coils ofthe wire to be wound on the bobbin as described below. The wall of theopposite endof the ring is provided with an aperture or slot 40angularly disposed relative to the axis of the tube and which extendsinwardly both linearly and radially from the end of the tube 20 as shownmost clearly in Fig. 4.

The inward terminus of the slot extends over the flaring portion 39 ofthe anvil and terminates'in an are 42 slightly beyond the flaringportion. As seen in the drawings theslot 40 is located substantially-onthe side of the ring as distinguished from the outer or inner peripherythereof, which permits the strand material tobe withdrawn from the tuberelatively easily and without inordinate friction therebetween. The tubeor ring 26 has sufiicient spring so that after the mandrel is receivedwithin the opposite end thereof the two parts are maintained in abuttingcondition as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The strand material, which in the present embodiment is a fine enamelcoated wire 44, is stored in the hollow ring 20 in the form of a helix.Placing the wire in the ring may be conveniently done by winding it on athin rod, entering the rod in the hollow portion and pushing the wireinto the ring while withdrawing the rod, or the wire helix may beautomatically formed and inserted into the bore of the ring by means ofa machine designed for this purpose.

A core bobbin 46 to be wound is held in position by a hinged clamp 48(Fig. 1) which is opened and closed by means of a lever 50. The clamp 48is mounted on an L-shaped member 52 by means of bolts (not shown). Themember 52 is rotatably mounted, by any suitable means, such as the bolt54 to a bearing 56 on plate 58. The supporting structure may be movedabout bolt 54 as a pivot arcuately to position bobbin 46 and thusdistribute the windings thereon during the winding process or it may beheld fixed by any suitable means.

To operate the machine, the empty ring 20 is removed therefrom byreleasing lever 61 which in a known fashion cams the pulley 18 out ofengagement with the ring and permits the ring to be withdrawn fromthemachine. The ends of the ring are separated and a wire helix is thenplaced in the ring, as explained above with one end extending outwardlythrough slot 40. The core bobbin 46 is clamped between the jaws of thechuck 48, after which one end of ring 20 is passed through the bobbinand its end again joined. The ring is then positioned on the threepulleys and the exposed end of the wire 44 is secured by the operator.As seen in Figs. 3 and 4 when the ends of the ring are snapped togetherthe mandrel 36 enters the leading turns of the wire and the ring ismoved until the slot 4% is near the core bobbin. Sutiicient wire isdrawn out to make at least one turn around the bobbin and then themachine is started, moving the ring 20 in a counter-clockwise directionas indicated in- Fig. 2. The wire 44 is placed under snfficient tensionduring its withdrawal from the ring 20 by virtue of the contractualengagement of the winding turns, of the helix with the mandrel.

After the ring slot 40 passes through the bore of the bobbin 46 andduring the first portion of ring rotation, the length of Wire 44 whichwas initially Withdrawn from the ring to form the first winding turn isacutely angularly bent back upon itself relative to the circumference ofthe ring and to the innermost end of the slot, see Fig. 7, andeffectively draws the wire to the end 42 of the slot removed from thesplit end of the ring. In this position thewire is'in the conditionrelative to anvil 36 as seen in Figs. 7 and 8 placing a sulficientrestraining force upon. the wire to prevent its withdrawal from the'slot' during this period of rotation of the ring. In effect, thiscondition, i.e., the combination of the acute angular relation of thewire with the slot and the drag or resistance resulting from thecontractual engagement of the winding turns about the mandrel,immobilizes or locks the wire between the mandrel 36 and the slot 40thus preventing further withdrawal thereof from the shuttle ring 20. i

As the chordal angle of the wire relative to the inner circumference ofthe ring 20 increases due to continued rotation of the ring and atapproximately of movement of the ring slot past the bobbin the loop ofwire is tightly drawn around the bobbin whereupon sufiicient force isexerted to release the wire from its locked condition as shown in Figs.3, 4 and 6.

Referring to the sectional View of Fig. 6 it is apparent that continuedarcuate travel of the ring about its axis, from about 120 to the wire isfreely withdrawn through the slot substantially tangentially to aportion of the mandrel on the tapering portion 37. This is dueto thefrictional forces exerted on the Wire as it passes closely around theupper and lower edges of the bore of the bobbin which forces impose adrag upon the Wire helix. Since the helix is free to rotate in the boreof the ring, additional wire is thus withdrawn from the ring until thering in its travel causes the slot and thus the wire to be perpendicularto the axial bore of the bobbin 46. At this point in the ring rotationthe drag on the wire is nullified since the slot has reached itsfarthest point from the bobbin and the angle of the Wire relative to thebobbin bore is now 90 (Fig. 2) and therefore further withdrawal of theWire is halted. Continued rotation of the ring 20 decreases theaforementioned angle inasmuch as the ring and thus the slot 40 is nowapproaching the bore of the bobbin. This action causes the wire tobecome slack, and, as clearly shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, a windingloop is formed which is carried through the bore of the bobbin to form atoroidal Winding therearound. It should be at once apparent vfrom theforegoing that the combination of the mandrel and the slot together forman automatic tensioning means for the wire as it is withdrawn from thering. The need for movable slides, pulleys and such to maintain thedesired tension on the strand material as it is wound on the core'bobbin is thus avoided.

The brush 26 forms a means for holding the winding fashion.

As each loop passes under the brush holder the contacts 30 and 32 arebroken, and thus by means of suitably connected counting mechanism (notshown) an accurate record can be obtained of the number of winding turnsapplied to the bobbin.

Movement of the core holding chuck 46 permits the applied windings to bearcuately distributed radially of the core bobbin. The internally storedwire helix permits the operator to wind multiple windings on a pluralityof bobbins without the necessity of loading the ring for each bobbin asis the case with many known core winders. I

A re-entrant portion or cut out 62 is formed in the disk 22 to permitthe core bobbin 46 to be advantageously mounted in the upstanding member52.

In Fig. 9 there is illustrated an additional embodiment of a tensioningslot as indicated at 40' of slightly modified construction. In thisinstance although the slot is disposed in the tube at an angle as beforeit is somewhat shorter inlength than slot 40 and terminates a slightdistance from one end of the tube 20, as shown.

An important feature in addition. to those features already set forthherein is that after the slot 40 has reached the 180 position (Fig. 2)in its initial or starting turn, the machine can beimmediately-accelerated to as earlier described. Quite obviously theneed for variable speed controls is completely eliminated thus makingthe overall cost of the machine relatively low in comparison to presentcore winding equipment which is rather costly.

Additionally the invention as described herein has been successfullyoperated without wire breakage at speeds of from 450 to 600 rpm.producing uniform toroidal windings on extremely small diameter corebobbins.

There has thus been described a novel shuttle for use with toroidal corewinding machines which eliminates the undesirable tension springs,pulleys, wire straighteners and movable guides of the prior artmachines.

What is claimed is:

1. A shuttle for Winding strand material upon elements, including thoseof toroidal shape, comprising, a transversely split ring formed of ahollow tube capable of containing a helically wound coil of strandmaterial extending throughout a major portion of its length, anelongated mandrel having a diameter less than that of the inner diameterof said tube, means rigidly supporting one end of the mandrel within oneend of the said tube so that the other end of the mandrel projectsoutwardly from the said one end of said tube and extends into the otherend of said tube so as to be spaced from the inner wall surface thereofand positioned within at least a portion of the coiled material when thelatter is housed therein, that portion of the tube surrounding saidmandrel having an aperture therein, said aperture opening through theside wall of said tube and extending around the wall in a directiontoward the inner periphery of the tube so that the material coiledaround said mandrel is obliged to be withdrawn from said tube undertension produced by the engagement of the winding turns of the materialwith said mandrel during withdrawal of the material through saidaperture in a direction toward the area enclosed by the tube.

2. A shuttle for winding strand material upon elements, including thoseof toroidal shape, comprising, a transversely split ring shaped tube forcontaining within a major portion of its extent a helically wound coilof strand material, means for disconnectably joining the split ends ofsaid tube, and an elongated mandrel having a diameter less than that ofthe inner diameter of said tube, means supporting said mandrel in onesplit end of said tube so that the mandrel projects outwardly therefromfor reception in and spaced from the inner wall surfaces of the oppositesplit end of said tube so that at least a portion of said strandmaterial encircles the mandrel, the wall of said tube over said mandrelhaving an elongated aperture therethrough, said aperture having aportion thereof located on the inner periphery of said tube opposite anintermediate portion of the mandrel and another portion thereofextending away from said periphery whereby strand material coiled aroundthe mandrel may be withdrawn from said tube through the aperture intothe area enclosed by the ring-shaped tube and when so fed therefrom isobliged to be withdrawn from around said mandrel under tension producedby engagement of the winding turns of the strand material with saidmandrel.

3. A shuttle for winding strand material upon toroidal elements,comprising, a transversely split winding ring formed of tubular materialadapted to house a helically wound coil of strand material, means forreleasably joining the ends of said ring, said means comprising, anelongated member having end sections engaging said ring ends, one of theend sections of said member being secured to one end of said ring, and amandrel projecting from the other end section of said member forming apermanent extension thereof and entering the other end of said ring,said mandrel being of less diameter than the inner diameter of said ringand spaced from the inner wall surface thereof for reception within acoil of material when the latter is housed said ring, said ring havingan opening on the inner peripheral portion thereof adjacent to themandrel so that the terminal end of the strand material encircling saidmandrel may extend through said opening from positions between the endsthereof to permit withdrawal of said material from around said mandreland out of said opening in a direction tangent to said mandrel, saidopening restraining the withdrawal of the strand material at certainpredetermined acute angular directions of the material relative to theinner peripheral portion of the ring due to the relatively acute angularengagement of the material with the edge of the opening thus to tighteneach winding turn of the material upon a toroidal element during aninitial partial rotation of the shuttle therethrough, and in otherpredetermined less acute angular directions said material being undertension produced during withdrawal from said ring by the contractualengagement of the winding turns of the material with said mandrel thuspermitting withdrawal of sufficient material to form a winding turnduring further partial rotation of the shut tle through the toroidalelements.

4. A shuttle for winding strand material on a toroidally shaped elementcomprising, a hollow transversely split ring having abutting endsforming a housing for receiving a helically wound coil of strandmaterial, means to rotate said ring about its axis while it isinterlocked with said element to cause withdrawal of strand materialfrom the ring and winding thereof on said element, an elongated mandrelsecured to one end of the ring, said mandrel projecting outwardly fromsaid one end of the ring for reception within the other end of the ringand into and through the winding turns of a portion of said coil ofmaterial, said other end of the ring being provided with an openingthrough the inner peripheral portion of the ring adjacent to themandrel, said opening extending over a portion of said mandrel andterminating inwardly from said other end of the ring, said mandrel beingof less diameter than the inner diameter of said ring and being taperedlongitudinally and curved on an axis substantially coinciding with theaxis of said ring thereby forming a surface spaced from the inner Wallsurface of the ring over which the strand material is obliged to beguidingly withdrawn through said opening under tension produced as aresult of the frictional engagement of the winding turns of the strandmaterial with the mandrel.

5. A shuttle for winding strand material on toroidal core bobbinscomprising, a hollow split annulus having inner and outer peripheralportions with the abutting ends thereof forming a normally closedtransverse joint, helically wound strand material stored in the annulus,means to rotate the annulus upon its axis while it is interlocked with acore bobbin to cause withdrawal of strand material from the annulus andtransfer thereof to the bobbin, a mandrel projecting outwardly from oneend of the annulus, the side wall of the opposite end of the annulusbeing provided with a slot which is slanted with respect to theperipheral portions of the annulus such that the inner end of the slotis closer to the inner peripheral portion than to the outer peripheralportion, the radius of curvature of the mandrel coinciding with the axisof the annulus and, the two ends of the annulus being joinable so thatthe mandrel extends into the opposite end of the annulus to thereby forma surface over which the strand material may be freely withdrawn throughthe slot.

6. A shuttle for winding strand material on elements, including those oftoroidal shape, comprising, in combination, a transversely split ringrotatable about its axis and hollowed interiorly for at least a portionof its ciroular extent for housing a helically wound coil of strandmaterial, a mandrel of substantially circular cross section throughoutits extent predisposed wholly within the hollow interior of the'ring andhaving one end thereof fixedly mounted in the ring for support therefromand the other end free, said mandrel being so dimensionally 7proportioned with respect to the hollow interior of the ring as toprovide an annular clearance therearound in order to receive over itsfree end coils of the strand material housed within the ring, the wallof the hollowed portion of the ring surrounding the mandrel having anelongated opening substantially opposite to the supported end of themandrel, said opening having its longer dimension generally slantingrelative to the inner and outer peripheries of the ring and located onthe side thereof toward the area circumscribed by the ring wherebystrand material coiled around the mandrel may be payed away therefromthrough the opening and directly into said area while the ring isrotated about its axis,

7. A shuttle for winding strand material on elements,-

including those of toroidal shape, comprising, in cornbination, atransversely split ring rotatable about its axis and hollowed interiorlyfor at least a portion of its circular extent for housing a helicallywound coil of strand material, a mandrel of substantially circular crosssection throughout its extent and adapted to be wholly disposed withinthe hollow interior of the ring, said mandrel having one end thereoffixedly mounted in one end of the ring for support therefrom and theother end free, the free end of said mandrel being so dimensionallyproportioned with respect to the hollow interior of the ring as toprovide an annular clearance therearound when received within theinterior of the other end of the ring in order to receive over its freeend coils of the strand material housed within the ring, the Wall of thehollowed portion of the ring surrounding the mandrel hav ing an apertureopening diagonally inwardly from the other end of the ring and adjacentto the mandrel, said aperture extending angularly across the innerperipheral portion of the ring whereby strand material coiled around themandrel is caused to be unwound from around the mandrel and payed awaytherefrom through the aperture and directly into the area circumscribedby the ring during a portion of its rotation.

8. A shuttle for winding strand material upon toroidal elements,comprising, in combination, a transversely split winding ring formed oftubular material and adapted to house a helically wound coil of strandmaterial, means for releasably joining the split ends of said ring, saidmeans comprising, a coupling member having end sections engaging saidsplit ends, one of the end sections of said coupling member beingsecured to one split end of said ring and the other of said end sectionshaving a sliding fit with the other split end of the ring, and conicallyshaped mandrel projecting from said other end section ofsaid memberforming a permanent extension thereof and entering into the other splitend of said ring, said, mandrel being of greater length than the endsection from which it projects and being of less diameter than that ofsaid other split end of said ring and forming an annular spacetherebetween so that a portion of the mandrel is receivable within aportion of a coil of strand material when the latter is housed withinthe ring, said ring having a slot on the inner peripheral portion there-'of adjacent to the mandrel, one end of said slot terminating over themandrel while the other end of said slot terminates adjacent to butslightly removed from said other split end of the ring into which themandrel is received so that a terminal end of a coil of strand materialencircling the mandrel may extend throughtheslot from positions betweenthe ends of the mandrel to permit with-i drawal of the material fromaround the mandrel and out of the slot in a direction tangent to themandrel, said slot restraining the withdrawal of the material atcertainpredetermined acute angular directions thereof relative to theinner periphery of the ring due to the relatively acute angularengagement of the material with the said one end of the slot thustightening each winding turn of the material upon a toroidal elementduring an initial partial 9. A shuttle for winding strand material upona toroidaily shaped element comprising, in combination, a hollowtransversely split ring having abutting ends and forming a housing forreceiving a helically wound coil of strand material, an elongatedmandrel having a conicaliy shaped tapered end section, means securingthe wider end of the tapered mandrel to one split end of the ring sothat it projects outwardly therefrom and is received within the othersplit end of the ring and into and through the winding turns of aportion of the coil of strand material within the ring, said mandrelalso having a radius of curvature from one end to the other end thereofhaving an axis substantially coinciding with the axis of the ring andhaving a diameter throughout substantially its extent less than theinner diameter of the split end of the ring within which it is receivedto thereby form an annular space therebetween for the reception of thecoils of the strand material therearound, said last mentioned split endof the ring being provided with an opening through the inner peripheralportion of the ring over the mandrel through which the strand materialcoiled on the mandrel may be payed out from positions between the endsof the mandrel, one edge portion of the opening serving to restrain thewithdrawal of the material at certain acute angular directions withrespect to the inner peripheral portion of the ring due to therelatively acute angular engagement of the strand material therewiththus tight ening each winding turn of the material upon a toroidalelement during an initial partial rotation of the shuttle therethrough,and in other less acute angular directions the strand material beingunder tension produced during withdrawal from the ring by thecontractual eugagement of the winding turns of the material with themandrel thus permitting withdrawal of suflicient material to form awinding turn during further partial rotation of the shuttle through thetoroidal element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GreatBritain Sept. 27, 1950

